By Tang Guhan
There are over 20 imported car makers who have announced they would adjust their retail prices in China as of now, among which 9 of them have already lowered their prices.
Chinese authorities announced they would cut the tariffs of whole-vehicle importation which previously ranged from between 25 percent and 20 percent to 15 percent while lowering the auto parts importation to 6 percent on May 22. After the tariff adjustments, the average tariffs for whole-vehicles is at 13.8 percent and the auto parts stand at 6 percent.
Though the new policy will be enforced from July 1 this year, dozens of foreign car makers have already vowed to offer some discounts on their imported cars.
Tesla became the first to take action by announcing a reduction range of 48,000 to 90,000 yuan on its vehicle prices on the night of the new policy announcement.
Two days later, Volvo Cars announced it would return all the reduced tariffs to customers, the prices for its flagship SUV Volvo XC90 will be cut by 102,000 yuan.
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi have lowered their prices on the heels of the Tesla and Volvo price adjustments.
A hefty price drop of 100,000 yuan was reported by Mercedes-Benz while Audi reduced its price tag by up to 165, 000 yuan.
Notably, Jaguar Land Rover has reported the largest mark-down percentage as its F-TYPE has been cut by 392,800 yuan.
However, not all of the cars’ prices have dropped due to tariff reductions; hot sellers have reportedly dropped by less than 1 percent or even no discount in the case of Land Rover.
Analysts assumed Lexus is likely to be the largest beneficiary as it sells the most to Chinese markets among other import automakers.
